The Little Sleep: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: dead girl, clown pants, cartoon sun, Jennifer Times, American Star, Brendan Sullivan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

South Boston PI Mark Genevich struggles to lead a seminormal life despite his narcolepsy, whose symptoms include falling asleep mid-conversation and hallucinations, in this uninspired noir from Stoker-finalist Tremblay (City Pier). When Jennifer Times, the daughter of prominent DA William "Billy" Times, comes to Mark's office with racy photographs of herself she received anonymously, Mark agrees to take her case. But after trying to contact both Jennifer—who's a contestant on an American Idol–like TV show—and her father, Mark realizes that Jennifer's visit was a hallucination. The photographs are his only tether to reality, one that becomes even more tenuous when he discovers not only that the subject isn't Jennifer, but that her father and his goons will do anything to get the mysterious photos back. Despite a promisingly quirky hero, Tremblay's plot is so full of holes that readers may wonder if they've suffered from one of Mark's frequent blackouts. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

As if the severe narcolepsy he developed after an auto accident hasn’t been enough of a stumbling block for Mark Genevich, the wisecracking South Boston PI now seems to have drawn the ire of the district attorney and his dour goons. He can’t be sure because his condition also triggers harrowing hallucinations, such as the woman who seems to show up at his office begging him to help find her stolen fingers. Hallucination or not, she looked a lot like the DA’s daughter, a finalist in an American Idol–style singing contest, and didn’t the DA grow up with Genevich’s late father in Southie? With the help of his acerbic-but-doting mom, Genevich stirs himself from his usual computer-based investigations and sets out into the hostile real world to solve the case—or at least figure out if a case even exists. Although the plot of this Chandler homage grows ragged around its increasingly surreal edges, it’s hard not to root for the loopy Genevich. (“I’m not peachy,” he explains at one point. “I’m not feeling any fruit in particular.”) This is a promising debut. --Frank Sennett

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1 edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805088490
• ISBN-13: 978-0805088496
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,004 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heck of a Lot of Fun, March 18, 2009

By	Zachary Hackett (Reno, Nevada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

When he was younger Mark Genevich and his college pal George were in an auto accident. Neither were wearing seatbelts. George went though the front window and was killed. Mark was stopped by the glass, but it ruined his face and he suffered brain damage. His brain still works, but the accident turned him into a Narcoleptic who has hypnogogic hallucinations with an occasional bout of cataplexy.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes sudden attacks of sleep. Yep, you fall asleep in the middle of the day, anytime, anyplace.

Cataplexy in it's worse form can completely paralyze and individual. He's awake and conscious, but paralyzed till the episode passes.

Hypnogogic hallucinations are sort of like waking dreams. You're not asleep, not awake either, you're somewhere in between, mixing the real up with the imaginary, thinking it's all real.

And our erstwhile here P.I. Mark Genevich has all three, plus he likes to crack wise. In the opening chapter a pretty brunette with legs that go "from the north of Maine all the way down to Boston" comes into his office with a story about someone stealing her fingers. She leaves a couple photos of herself, one of which she's in a state of undress.

When Mark wakes she's gone. But he has the photos. He knows he's imagined the missing fingers, but the photos are real. So what does she want? Is she being blackmailed? When he attempts to find out someone is killed and he's being followed. His place is ransacked. Someone wants him dead. If he could just remember.

This is a fun read that is so well written that I bought right into the character and his disorders. Mark, because of those disorders, makes a lot of boneheaded mistakes, but he's got a good head on his shoulders, good intuition and sometimes he gets lucky. Also, he's like a dog with a bone, he's persistent and he's every bit as good a character as Jeff Lindsey's Dexter. My prediction, it won't be long before he's got his own TV series, too.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Little Sleep(er Hit), March 20, 2009

By	Chris MB "CMB" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

Did you hear the one about the narcoleptic detective? No? I hadn't either until I read The Little Sleep, a solid mystery novel which happens to feature a narcoleptic detective. It would be easy for that to be the gimmick and the rest of the story to take a back seat to that gimmick - the trials and tribulations of a private investigator who constantly falls asleep. But that's not how author Paul Tremblay played it. It's quirky, yes, and Tremblay's sense of humor is there in all its glory. The story, however, is solid, and the mystery is intricate and suspenseful. The Little Sleep was a pleasure to read. I was saddened when I reached the last page. It was one of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. I encourage you to pick up a copy. Unlike the main character, it'll keep you up all night.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sleep Walking, Sleep Talking, Wise Cracking P.I., March 18, 2009

By	Ken Douglas (The Coast) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed this story more than I can say and I'd really love to give the book five stars, but there is one coincidence in the book that is just a bit much. Two characters who are unrelated, look too much alike to be believable unless they're twins or mother and daughter and the plot hinges on it. Other than that, this is a fine story, one that kept me reading non-stop.

I'd seen THE LITTLE SLEEP touted on Amazon, so when I saw it on the shelves of my local independent bookstore the other day, I picked it up, read the blurb on the back cover and thought, no way. No way could a writer pull of a narcoleptic, hallucination suffering private investigator. Can't be done. I chuckled, started to put the book back, then stopped. That would be unfair, putting it back without at least reading the first page.

And I was hooked. I got a cup of coffee (don't you just love the bookstores that let you sit with a book and a cuppa joe) and read. A couple hours later I got up to put the book back. Yeah, sometimes I'll read a book for free. I wish I felt bad about it, but I don't. As I was putting the book away a little mom with a couple kids, who'd seen me reading the book asked me if I enjoyed it.

"Very Much," I said.

"Then you should buy it," she said.

Busted, I thought and I took it to the counter and paid for it. Turns out it was a good thing I did, because I took it home and Vesta just loved it to death. So that irritating look-a-like characters notwithstanding, Paul Tremblay is a hit at our house and we're eagerly awaiting P.I. Mark Genevich's next narcoleptic caper.